The event is organised by Manchester Girl Geeks, a not-for-profit group which organises networking ...

08/03/2015 | Manchester - Auto Trader UK

The event is organised by Manchester Girl Geeks, a not-for-profit group which organises networking events, talks and hands-on workshops for women and girls with an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

08/03/2015 | Manchester - Auto Trader UK

The focus of the 'Making IT Happen for Women' event will be to discuss methods and approaches which get more women into senior position, encourage talented women and girls to consider IT as a serious career option alongside Medicine or Law.

Speakers

Gillian Arnold
Chair of British Computer Society’s Women’s Network and Director of IT Services and Recruitment Company Tectre Ltd. Winner of the 2012 Everywoman Inspiration of the year award in 2012, GEM Tech Award for BCSWomen in 2014 and co-author of Women in IT: Inspiring the Next Generation.

Rana Tassabehji
Senior Lecturer, Bradford School of Management and leading researcher on the project ‘Technology and Tiaras’, a cross country investigation into what facilitates women working in the technology sector and how gender influences technology innovation.

San Bullsh*t Sans

Tired of seeing the same buzzwords used to describe design? Do you prefer straight-forward language? Here's a font that replaces buzzword and buzz-phrases like 'immersive', 'below the fold', 'rockstar', with a Comic Sans-styled censorship bar.

There's a box on the site so you can test your new website copy, or pitch, and see just how many words get censored!

5 CV Tools You Don't Know About Yet

Our latest blog is a launchpad for anyone wanting to refresh their CV. We've sifted through the huge collection of sites offering CV builders and templates, and picked what we think are the best options, whether you're a design whizz or no good with computers.

You've been staring at Microsoft Word trying to create your CV. One that will catch the eye of a future employer, and will communicate exactly why you're perfect for the role.

A great CV needs two things:

1 Attention
2 Clarity

That's a lot of pressure. So you're forgiven if you've been struck with writers' block.

We've found a set of hugely helpful resources to fix the problem.

You won't find these on the front page of Google, but that's why they're such great finds! Let's get in to the list.

Google Docs Templates

Google Docs is known the world over, but they have a little known template gallery with a HUGE range of document templates. One of the categories is 'Resumes & Cover Letters'. Browse the pre-made templates and you can open up a version of the template to your Google Drive for editing.

Pros: Quick, completely free, and no software required

Cons: Difficult to further personalise the templates, needs a Google Drive account, very little search capability.

Each week one of our staff takes a moment to compile all the useful links, downloads, videos ...

20/02/2015

20/02/2015

Each week one of our staff takes a moment to compile all the useful links, downloads, videos and apps from the last five days.

20/02/2015

25 Years of Photoshop

This week Photoshop turned 25 years old. Back in 1990, when the software was released, it was still black and white. Now, it's not just the premiere photo editing app, it's the creative platform and has carved its way into our language - everyone knows what a 'photoshopped' image is, even if they've never used it before.

Adobe has put a video to celebrate the milestone, called 'Dream On'showing the applications - from gifs to Hollywood movies.

The Specialist-Generalist Balance

This one's a long read, but well worth it.

A constant topic of conversation in the Orchard office is the specialist-generalist balance.

Essentially, the discussion is where the predefined responsibilities of a Front-End and Back-End Developer overlap. Or the responsibilities of a Front-End Dev and a Web Designer. Or just about any web based role really.

And more importantly, what's the answer for digital people - should you be specialising more or broadening your skills?

The short version? As long as you're part of the right team it doesn't matter. For the longer read, click the link below.

300 Awesome Free Things

This isn't the first link-dump I've stumbled across, but it's definitely one of the best. Writer Ali Mese compiled the list, which features sub-categories for design resources, online marketing, social media, email... the list keeps going.

I will make you a guarantee - if you're working in digital you'll find at least one new useful link here.

The Wine bottle CV

A bottle of wine is a great way of saying thanks, or in this case, please. Designer Miklos Kiss was asked by a friend to design a CV for an opening at a wine distributor. So he incorporated the CV beautifully into a bespoke wine bottle label.